Period. Tampons. Uterus.

Now that all the men have run screaming from the room...Ladies, we need to talk. Do you ever wish there was a button we could push to ovulate? Seriously, how handy would that be? Okay, I'm ready to get pregnant again. *Push* Ta da!

I honestly thought I would be pregnant again by now. My hope was to be pregnant by Georgia. But alas, Georgia has come and gone and I am further than ever. I'm not sure why I thought it would be easier to get pregnant the second time around, but I foolishly believed it would be. For those of you who are familiar with temping, maybe you can help me out. For the life of me, I can't figure out when I'm ovulating! Or if I am even ovulating at all! It is SO FRUSTRATING! My body (in regards to that) has been so screwed up since I had Kalianna! Every time I think I have things all figured out, I think I am going to ovulate on a certain day, then my period starts. Seriously! My periods are either super close together, or really far apart (making me think I was pregnant a couple times). Grrrr! Since I quit nursing and my periods started again, these have been my cycles:

Dec/Jan = 14 days

Jan/Feb = 36 days

Feb/Mar = 36 days

Mar/Apr = 21 days

Apr/May = 28 days

May/May = 12 days

May/Jun = 18 days

Jun/Jul = 23 days

Did anyone else notice I had three periods during the month of May?? Cause I sure did! But seriously, if anyone can help me read my charts, I would be very grateful! I've been on Provera for a few months, but it doesn't seem to be helping. And I have an appointment with my OBGYN (made months ago) but she can't see me till August. In the meantime, I'm frustrated and sad =(

February/March

March/April

April/May

May

May/June

June/July

W-O-W!!!

When everyone started telling me I HAD to read the Twilight books, and I finally did, I thought they were good. Not great. Not wow. But good. I never read the fourth book though. I had my reasons. They were threefold. Then the first movie came out and some friends convinced me to go. I laughed out loud. A lot. And not at scenes where one was supposed to laugh. I thought the script was poorly written and the acting was just bad! Then the second movie came out. Again I went with friends. I was very pleasantly surprised by the second movie! It was fun to watch, most of the things I didn't like about the first one had been improved, and most of the actors figured out how to act. Most. Well, tonight I went with a friend to the third movie: Eclipse. We both wanted to get out of the house and well, I was curious. HOLY FREAKING COW! WOW! WOW! WOW! That movie was SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! I could not even believe it! As we were walking out, my friend made the comment that in comparison, the first two movies look like a joke! It was so intense, and enjoyable, and dramatic (Actually dramatic! Not just cheesy!) I laughed out loud in this movie too, but only during the scenes where you were supposed to this time. There was one particular scene: in the tent. Many of you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. Where one character says to another, "After all, I am hotter than you." I joined in with the rest of the audience and clapped and cheered. The dialogue for this movie was fantastic! Oh my heck! It was so good! The only thing I didn't like about it, and it's small, is the actress who plays Victoria was different. She wasn't nearly as good. Well, and the icicle body parts that was just...weird. But other than that, the movie was great!! It even made me want to (you may need to sit down for this) go and read the fourth book.

BEAR

We just got back from a week long adventure to Lake Tahoe. One thing about Tahoe is it happens to be bear country. Well, we got a special visit from one such bear Friday morning after my dad put the garbage out for pick up. Isn't he cute? (We thought he was cute because we were safely watching him from the balcony)

As much fun as it was watching Toby the Tahoe Bear (that's what we named him) we had to somehow get out of our cabin that day. So my brave father stepped up to the challenge. He ventured down the steps, climbed into his large suburban, and honked until Toby left.

Then Logan climbed into his car and the two of them kept Toby at bay while the rest of the family cleaned up his mess.

The next morning, we were loading up the cars to come home. All standing outside la dee dah when someone looked over and saw this:

Either Toby came back, or he told his friends about a sweet score. Dirty diapers! Yum!

Proof

Here's proof! Kalianna really is walking!

Crossing the Road?

So the other night, the same night as the blackout in fact, Matt and I were on our way to the church. It had been a busy afternoon, so we were in a bit of a hurry to get to our meetings. Well, we turned down the street and had to wait for a moment. There was a chicken crossing the road! No joke! And we don't even live in a rural area! If we hadn't been in the 'need to hurry' mindset, I might have stopped to take a picture and ask her why she was crossing. Though I'm not sure she would have talked to me. Chickens are notoriously reserved.

Blackout Bliss

Yesterday was a super crazy, busy day. I had Activity Days that I was getting ready for and then the actual activity. Straight from the activity we had to pick Matt up from the train station, rush home to scarf down dinner, and then I had Relief Society and Matt had an Elders Quorum meeting. Poor Kalianna just got dragged all over the place! We finally got home for the evening around 8:30 p.m. Bedtime is typically 9:00. So we were all in Kalianna's room, playing together, and we had just started getting her ready for bed, when the power went out. Kalianna thought it was hysterical and started crawling/stumbling all over the place, running into things and laughing. We waited for the power to come back on. And we waited. And we waited. Finally, Matt called the power company, who said it would be back on around 1:00 a.m. Awesome! So we got some flashlights and finished putting the little one to bed, who because of all the excitement, didn't get to sleep until quarter to ten. Matt had homework to work on, but without power, he was out of luck. I was going to work on some writing and get some things done around the house, all of which needed the use of electricity. And working out was out of the question, since P90X requires the use of a TV. So you know what we did instead? We snuggled on our balcony, and watched the storm outside. We just talked and snuggled and talked some more. It turned into such a fun evening together! Without any distractions, and not being able to get the things done we had planned on, we both relaxed and enjoyed being together instead. We just might have to turn our power off more often!

Humidity and Highlights

Kalianna and I just got back from a trip to Atlanta, for Bryan and Ricci's reception out there. It was a fun trip, but we were sad Matt couldn't join us. I loved being on the east coast again, it's so gorgeous out there! So many things reminded me of Virginia! And, call me crazy, but I actually enjoy humidity. It's thick, it's warm, and it's like being wrapped in nature's blanket every time you step outside. Plus Kalianna's hair was so curly out there, it was super cute! I could give you a play-by-play of each day, but instead I'll just tell you the highlights from the trip:

Wednesday -

We left in several different groups (thanks to frequent flyer miles). Kalianna and I flew with my dad, Kristine and Ian. She did quite well on the airplane, considering it was a four hour flight. Thanks to Grandpa's magic touch, she slept most of the ride. After landing in Atlanta, Bryan and Ricci took us to her mom's house for a yummy dinner. We visited and then crashed at the hotel.

Thursday -

We slept in, since we were still on Utah time and my roomie (Theresa) didn't get in until after 2:00 am. We went swimming at the hotel pool and then we went to Stone Mountain, Georgia. For those of you who are 30 rock fans, no I didn't see Kenneth or any of his family. And yes, I did look. We walked around a plantation, visited the petting zoo, and then went on an awesome hike up the mountain. Which is literally pure stone. Thank goodness there were lots of strong men willing to help carry my baby (who slept most of the way up) otherwise, I don't think I would have made it! The hike was straight up this rock mountain, the closest thing I can compare it to is hiking Delicate Arch in Moab. Such a fun hike though! I really enjoyed it! (thanks to P90X, I had more stamina and strength). Then a bunch of us staked out a spot on the grass for the laser show. When they started playing some music over the speakers, Kalianna started dancing! That night after dark, we watched a laser show they do on the side of the mountain. Fun music, and fun show, but Kalianna did Not appreciate the noise. She was trying to sleep and they had the audacity to shoot off fireworks! So rude! I was finally able to get her calm again, and I put her blanket around her head to muffle the sound. After that, she was gone!

One of my favorite pictures from the whole trip! Can you tell how much grandpa loves this little girl?

All those lovely black holes at the top of the mountain is where lightening has struck. Glad we weren't hiking this in the rain!

Friday -

We went to the Georgia Aquarium with my parents, Theresa, and Brent. Everyone else hung out at the hotel, by the pool. It was a pretty nice aquarium. Most of the tanks were the entire wall, so you could stand right next to the different fish and watch them swim by you. Kalianna loved being able to see everything so close! The best part of the aquarium was when we went to see the penguins. You could crawl through this little tunnel and then pop your head up one of the holes in the middle of the penguin habitat. So you are literally right next to the penguins! The only thing separating you is a clear plastic bubble thing. By this point, Kalianna was getting hungry and tired, so she was a bit cranky. But I made her crawl into the tunnel with me (so mean!). She screamed and screamed until it was our turn to stand up. The second we did, she stopped screaming. She was face to face with a penguin! It tapped on the plastic and Kalianna put her hand up, so it looked like the penguin was tapping her hand. Seriously, the coolest thing ever! She was ecstatic! Then, sadly, we had to give someone else a turn and the screaming ensued until she had a chicken nugget in her mouth. After the aquarium, we went next door to The World of Coke. Did you know coke was invented in Georgia? I didn't either. But cool! My mom and Theresa worshiped the statue of the inventor, before we actually went in. It was fun to walk around and see all the memorabilia, learn more about how and when it was invented, and see the Coca-Cola polar bear! The best part was the tasting room, where you could taste drinks from all over the world. Some were quite nasty. One thing I learned, is when everyone makes a big deal about trying a certain drink, whatever you do, DON'T TRY IT! Nastiest thing I have ever put in my mouth! I think my taste buds are still angry. But they forgave me slightly when we spent a good deal of time at the Coke station drinking cup after cup of cherry, vanilla, and regular coke. We were so much fun to be around that night! When we got back to the hotel, my siblings who had stayed behind surprised Theresa for her birthday. They had filled our hotel room with balloons and short-sheeted our bed (as we found out later that night). Kalianna loved those balloons! The next morning, first thing she did was go in the front room and play with them again. Even when they popped in her face, she went back for more. Such a tough kid! Then later that night we all went to Ricci's mom's house again for a BBQ with her family. We were supposed to have a pool party too, but it started raining. That night, Theresa, Brent, Logan, and I all played games after everyone else went to bed. We laughed a lot! Which I'm willing to bet had something to do with all that coke.

There is a Beluga whale swimming right in front of us, and she is more interested in this girl's backpack. Lol!

I'm pointing out which otter I want to take home. They were so cute!

Saturday -

We got up and went swimming and enjoyed the sun! So wonderful! This was the only day that Kalianna got a nap in her crib at the hotel. I use the term 'crib' loosely. It was really a cage. Has anyone ever used a hotel-provided crib before? They are so cool! They can be doubled as a dog cage too! =) While she slept, everyone went to lunch and brought us food back. That evening was the ring ceremony/reception at Ricci's bishop's house. His house and yard were huge! Everything was beautiful! We got to meet lots of people and Kalianna got to eat lots of food (red velvet cake=yum!). The tables were all set up around the outside of their swimming pool. At least 3 kids went in by the end of the night. But hey, it was hot, the water was cool, and I totally would have followed them in if I hadn't been wearing a white shirt! Kalianna didn't seem to enjoy the humidity as much as I did, so we spent the majority of the evening inside, watching their wedding video and chatting with people in there. We did make it out to the garden briefly, so Kristine could take some pictures of us. And Kalianna found a soccer ball to chase (her daddy would have been so proud!) That night we had to say all our good-byes to Ricci's family (which was sad, cause we like them).

Sunday -

Had to get up bright and early at 4:45 am to make our plane. Yuck! We were so tired! Kalianna had a rougher time on the flight home, but she still did pretty well, all things considering. We finally made it home! We were both super happy to see Matt, Sobaka, and Kutse again! Then I crashed for a much-needed nap. It was a short, fun trip! But it feels good to be home again too!

(And those were just the highlights!)